Barry Bonds Trial Resumes, Welcomes Kimberly Bell To Stand

We’re back! We’re back to the Barry Bonds trial, everybody! After a long weekend, the trial picked up where it left off on Monday morning, and now we’re getting to the good stuff, by which I mean the stuff that nobody wants to hear about ever.

First, long-time Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy took the stand and nervously testified that Bonds’ hat size increased by a small amount around 2002, which the government wants to pin on the use of HGH. Bonds’ attorney Allen Ruby asserted that a bigger size could’ve had to do with simple aging and weight gain.

Murphy wasn’t up there long, and then came former Bonds mistress Kimberly Bell, here to testify about Bonds’ physical and personality changes over the course of their nine-year relationship. After talking about the relationship’s origin, Bell testified that Bonds talked to her about using steroids around 1999-2000. Then she started detailing changes to his physical appearance around the same time. Back acne, balding, bloating, sexual dysfunction. She also touched on increased irritability and aggression, which the government blames on supposed “roid rage”.

Bell said that the relationship ended in 2003, at which point she found herself in financial trouble. Not long after that, the cross-examination began, and Bonds’ lawyer Cristina Arguedas immediately set about questioning Bell’s history and motives. She hit on how often Bell discussed her ex-mistress status on radio. She painted her as a bitter ex looking to capitalize on Bonds’ situation, and noted how she attempted to write a tell-all book about her relationship with the star.

After a break, the cross-examination resumed, and Arguedas continued insisting that Bell was angry at Bonds after their split. She spent a lot of time talking about her attempted book and questioned Bell about her intent in writing it. She denied that she wrote it to get rich and she denied that she wanted it to be about steroids and baseball, but Arguedas wouldn’t let up. She has spent his morning trying to undermine her credibility, and the dialogue has grown heated.

That’s where we stand now, during the courtroom lunch break. Things’ll pick back up again shortly.

Follow along in this StoryStream for updates, and also get more information from SB Nation Bay Area’s Barry Bonds trial coverage, for which David Fucillo will be live-blogging - and live-tweeting - from the courtroom. You can follow on Twitter @SBNBayArea.